No. 9 Stanford Sweeps Season Series From No. 13 UCSB With 3-1 Victory

STANFORD, Calif. -
The No. 13 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team saw its three-match win streak come to an end Friday as it lost 3-1 at ninth-ranked Stanford in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. Game scores from Maples Pavilion were 30-25, 23-30, 30-21, and 30-18 in favor of the Cardinal.

Both teams entered the match tied for seventh in the MPSF with 3-4 records. After Friday's contests around the league, Stanford (8-4, 4-4) is now tied for seventh with USC and UCSB (4-7, 3-5) is ninth.

Stanford swept the season series with the victory as it won 3-0 on Jan. 25 in Santa Barbara.

Middle blocker Theo Brunner had a match high 20 kills and hit .533 (20-4-30) for UCSB. The senior All-American also posted match highs with seven blocks and 23.5 points. Freshman opposite Jeff Menzel had 12 kills, but hit just .026 (12-11-39). Menzel and freshman middle Scott Slaughter each blocked six Stanford attacks as the Gauchos held a 14-9 advantage at the net. Outside hitter Mike Runkle had a career and match best 13 digs while setter Max Klineman ran his assist total to 44.

Stanford spread its offense to both sides of the net and got 15 kills from both outside hitter Evan Romero and opposite hitter Matt Ceran. Outside Spencer McLachlin followed with 11 kills. Middle Charley Henrikson hit .600 with six kills and no errors in 10 sets and Ceran hit .522 (15-3-23).

The Cardinal had its serve working and aced the Gauchos eight times. Romero led with three.

UCSB, 0-3 on the road thus far this season, plays at un-ranked Pacific Saturday at 3 p.m. The Gauchos are 2-0 against the Tigers already this season with a 3-0 win on Jan. 26 in an MPSF match and a 3-1 victory on Jan. 5 in tournament play. Both matches were in Santa Barbara.